Are unrecorded deeds legal

Answer 1

Generally, a deed is valid once it has been delivered to the grantee. If never recorded it remains enforceable against the grantor but if down the road the land is conveyed again to a person who has no notice of the first deed and that owner records their deed, the grantee in the unrecorded deed may not own the property. She would only have an action against the person who sold the land to her.


Every state in the United States has its own recording statutes that address the recording in the land records of written instruments that affect the ownership of real property. There are three types of recording statutes: race, notice and race-notice. The purpose of the recording statutes is to give notice to the community that there has been a change in ownership or that there has been an encumbrance made against the real estate.


Under the race process the priority of ownership in the case of more than one grantee would be determined by the first to record their deed. That priority would also apply in the other two types of recording statute states as long as the successive grantee was not given notice that the land had already been conveyed or encumbered.


In practical terms this means that if an owner of land conveyed the property to two different grantees with the first not recording their deed, the second would own the property if they recorded their deed and if they had no notice of the first deed. The first grantee who didn't record their deed would only have a monetary claim against the grantor, they would not own the land.